Stupid Cupid
by Julie Ann Pope
Summary: Julie has a strange encounter at Sammy's engagement party. Set post S3, Ep8.
1. Chapter 1

**Synopsis:** Julie has a strange encounter at Sammy's engagement party.

The front door had been left on the latch, as she knew it would be, so Julie Dodson pushed it open with ease. She'd just about managed to have a shower and then change into a pair of dark denim jeans, heeled boots and a loose fitting blouse before heading over to Gill's place. The party was clearly in full swing; teenagers were dotted about the place and swayed heavily on their feet from the excesses of alcohol already and the middle-aged guests tried to appear as though they weren't in the same sorry state. Julie recognised at least a dozen police officers she knew and wondered just exactly what the Gill to Sammy ratio of party goers there were. Although, she knew that her best friend's son wouldn't have begrudged his mother some familiar company, especially after everything she had been through earlier in the day.

Had it really been a mere fourteen hours ago that everything had gone tits up and she'd very nearly lost her best friend? It felt like longer somehow; the heap of paperwork she'd had to sign off on before she could even think about getting here this evening was a testament to that, plus her own weariness from the burden of being in charge of the rescue mission. She had done much soul searching before she had made her way over to Gill's and had come to a decision, probably the biggest of her life. When something like this happened to remind her that life was far too short for comfort and that her best friend wasn't made of steel it made her re-evaluate certain things. Certain things that she'd put to the back of her mind and heart because it was too much of a risk that she would be rejected and their friendship wouldn't survive it. However, after today's events, Julie now felt that to leave it be would be a bigger risk.

Julie spotted Gill by the table of drinks in the kitchen and her breath caught in her throat. She'd phoned as soon as she had heard that Gill had been safely escorted home but until she had seen her with her own eyes she knew that she wouldn't feel completely at ease. Julie's gaze was drawn to the bruising around Gill's neck and she couldn't help but let out a small gasp. She barely had time to register the full extent of Gill's injuries before she noticed who she was taking to. Chris bloody Latham and the _young_ man had the audacity to rest his arm around her waist! As far as Julie knew their fling had fizzled out long ago and Gill had been perfectly fine about it. She'd not expressed any sort of desire to go back and rekindle the short lived affair, at least not to her. Julie's courage began to wane and she wondered if she should back out of her own promise to herself.

"Oh shit!" Julie heard a quiet voice behind her exclaim. She looked around but couldn't see anyone from which the expletive could have come.

"Pardon?"

"You heard me?!" The disembodied voice seemed surprised at being caught.

"Of course I heard you. Where are you?" Suddenly a small goblin like creature appeared in front of her, hovering in the air in her line of sight. It had triangular ears and small tufts of downy hair protruded from inside. Sprouting from its back were a pair of white and grey wings which gently fluttered in the air to keep it aloft. Despite its muddy green skin tone and wrinkled appearance, it was actually quite sweet in a strange way.

"That's weird, I've never hit the wrong person before," the creature muttered to itself.

"You're not real; you're just a figment of my emotionally drained imagination." Julie screwed her eyes up tight and told herself out loud as she shook her head in disbelief. As Julie reopened her eyes she could see that the creature looked momentarily hurt and it puzzled her somewhat.

"Cheers love!" Its accent had turned from neutral British to something decidedly Mancunian. Julie rubbed at her forehead, at the space just above and between her eyebrows. She often had intense headaches focused on that area, particularly in times of stress or confusion and she was most certainly confused right now.

"I can't believe that I'm having this conversation with... Who..._what_ are you exactly?"

"You're a detective, can't you tell?" Julie shrugged her shoulders as the creature almost preened with pride.

"If you know that much about me then you probably know that I've had a bit of a shit day. I'm not really in the mood for games." The creature fluttered its wings a little harder for emphasis and from seemingly nowhere, drew out a bow and pulsating golden arrow. Sparks of glittering hearts, flowers and butterflies emanated from the weapon in a bit of a show and Julie rolled her eyes at the display.

"You have got to be kidding me?!" Cupid chuckled at Julie's response.

"I take it you weren't the sort of little girl to believe in fairy tales, happy endings and one's true love?" Julie glanced back into the kitchen and at her best friend once again. She was still engrossed in her conversation with Chris and Julie's heart clenched in familiar heartache; so familiar it almost felt like another limb.

"Maybe, once upon a time..." she whispered to herself. Julie rubbed at that spot on her forehead once again and Cupid smiled at her kindly.

"Do you know why you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Your head..."

"Because I have a headache?" Julie muttered sarcastically. She was beginning to tire of this very bizarre conversation.

"You've been struck; a very long time ago and very deeply. People assume the deepest love is the one that has been struck directly in the heart but that's just not true. If you pulled the arrow from the heart it would bleed, for a while, but you would live and time would eventually heal. But between your eyes and into your soul, your very being is dependent on that love remaining whole."

"But what if it's unreciprocated?" Cupid laughed in joy, this was the best part of her job after all.

"Oh but it's not! You can't get struck with Cupid's arrow without it being mutual, that's the point. Anything else just isn't love." Julie looked back over at Gill once again and Cupid followed her gaze and realisation dawned.

"Ahh, that explains why I missed. I can't believe I didn't see it before." The creature chuckled at its own stupidity.

"What?"

"She's the one isn't she?" Julie nodded sadly. "She's already been struck, through her left armpit and towards her heart. It wouldn't have been imbedded that deeply to begin with but it's been there a long time, gradually getting deeper and closer to her heart."

"What are you trying to tell me?" Julie was had a horrible feeling in her gut and she began to feel a bit nauseous. Perhaps she had already left it too late?

"It was platonic at first but over time she fell in love and it's deep and strong."

"But I thought you said the ones in the heart weren't the deepest?"

"The ones directly into the heart yes, but this love has grown with time. It hasn't been the first time she's been struck; I can see the old, broken arrow still in her chest."

"Does it ever go?" Julie had seen Gill through the worst of the fallout from having her heart broken by Dave and she felt sorry that the scars would forever remain.

"No, but why would you want it to? Despite the pain that often comes with falling in love, each experience is a part of the person you become. There's no room here for jealousy, it's your arrow that burns in her heart now. All you need to do is tell her how you feel."

"My arrow?" A dawning realisation began to overtake the previous feelings of doubt and sadness in Julie's heart.

"Yes, of course. I can't very well go around telling you about a non-matching arrow." Cupid took in the look of shock on Julie's face. "For one of the smarter ones you're rather slow on the uptake!"

"My arrow? They match? But she's not...and then there's _him._"

"Ah, well I think I've just sorted that one out." Cupid said with a wink, perhaps she hadn't missed the right target after all. "And as for the other thing, you silly humans and your labels and boxes. Love just _is_, whatever the packaging." Julie looked carefully at her best friend and took a few moments to drink in the sight of her. Despite the obvious weariness around her eyes and the colourful bruising on her neck she looked as beautiful as she had ever been. The fitted emerald green party dress and grey cardy looked good on her, not to mention the high heels that accentuated her short legs. Gill had a sort of energy around her which had swept the older woman up in its wake the day they had met and she had never quite righted herself since. Julie hadn't stood a chance against someone as bright and vivacious as that. She turned to her miniscule companion for further clarification.

"How do I...?" However, the sentence died on her lips as she realised Cupid had disappeared. Her vision swam and she reached a hand up to soothe the headache that throbbed in its usual place. She really was exhausted, especially if she thought that she had been having an imaginary conversation with Cupid of all people. Julie made the decision to leave; a good night's sleep and some time alone would cure her of the silly notion of confessing her feelings to Gill. Her vision back in focus, she looked up only to find Gill right in front of her and a concerned expression written plainly on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"You alright Slap? You look like shit." Julie mentally shook her head free from conversation with Cupid, her imagination or whatever the hell the last fifteen minutes had been about. She smiled brightly and had to stop herself from saying something decidedly soppy in relief at being face to face with her friend after so very nearly losing her.

"Looking a bit worse for wear yourself Gill." The two women paused to look right at each other before bursting into laughter. Julie had to fight another urge, this time to grab hold of Gill and hug her tightly. They'd never really had a tactile friendship; Julie had deliberately kept some distance between them, lest she inadvertently reveal the depth of her feelings and Gill had seemingly followed the older woman's lead. Although, there had been a few occasions, usually after a more than adequate consumption of alcohol, where they'd fallen asleep on the settee together or consoled each other after a good cry. "I'm so glad you're okay." Julie hadn't been able to keep the emotion out of her voice and, ever the alert detective, Gill picked up on it.

"You're not alright are you love?" Julie shook her head and felt guilty about being so obvious; Gill was the one that should be comforted right now. She looked around at the party guests enjoying themselves about them and gave Gill a cue with a nod of her head.

"Can we talk?" Fortunately after years of friendship Gill picked up on what Julie was getting at and agreed.

"Of course, upstairs is probably best." Gill led the way through the throng and over to the staircase. Once they reached the landing Julie could see that Gill was heading for her bedroom but Julie balked at the intimacy that would evoke. She wanted a rational, grown up conversation before anything else that may or may not happen. Julie reached out to stop Gill and sat down on the top step pulling the smaller woman down with her. They sat at the top of the stairs next to each other, legs pressed against one another and at ease with how close they were. Julie held her hands in her lap but subconsciously wrung them together in her nervousness.

"How are you, _really_?" Julie pushed ahead first, hoping to avoid confronting her feelings first. Besides, as Gill's best friend she knew that her party face masked a myriad of feelings and was probably hell bent on keeping up the pretence for the rest of the evening. Gill sighed, knowing that she was beaten and if anyone understood, truly understood, it would be Julie.

"I've had better days." Julie squeezed the top of Gill's thigh next to her in a gesture of comfort. "I'll be alright eventually, just might take a while to get the image of Helen's body out of my head. I've never been there when someone's died before you know? After everything I've...we've both seen you'd think I'd have been used to it by now." Gill was tough and stoic in the worst of situations; Rachel even called her out on it when Janet was stabbed. She only seemed to trust Julie with her vulnerability, unafraid of appearing weak or incapable and knowing that she would be understood. They could so easily have grown to be rivals, competing against each other in career advancement but besides the fact that life had taken them in different directions, they had instead found something mutually supportive in each other.

"What happened today is different. You knew Helen's history and the circumstances leading up today. I know what you're thinking and it's not your fault." The hand on Gill's thigh remained, anchoring the younger woman to her best friend and the here and now instead of all the 'what if's' that were surely plaguing her.

"It feels like it is. She died because of failures on our part, on _my_ part."

"The CPS could have been more understanding and yes, the press leak didn't help matters but it really wasn't _your_ fault. She had problems long before we got involved. Kevin had problems that were not your responsibility either."

"I know you're right but it doesn't change the fact that Helen felt like she had no option but to kill herself and Kevin felt that he needed to punish me by going to the press."

"I know love, I know." Julie couldn't help but give Gill's thigh another squeeze, it felt so natural being this close to each other, she momentarily forgot why she had held herself back all these years.

"Anyway, enough about me, my problems are obvious. What's up with you?" Julie went through a moment of internal panic and reality reasserted itself. Julie changed her mind about having it out with Gill as it clearly wasn't the right time for that conversation.

"It doesn't matter now. Another time maybe." Gill looked carefully at Julie and shook her head.

"Of course it matters. Please, tell me what's going on." Julie held Gill's gaze and the sense of panic she had felt earlier that day returned to her, what if Gill hadn't survived? And then there was her moment of unreality with 'Cupid' or whatever the hell her stress-addled brain had conjured up in a moment of weakness. Perhaps the universe was trying to tell her something? Julie reached down and took Gill's right hand in her own. She laced their fingers together and then cupped their joined hands in her other hand tightly.

"I couldn't get it out of my head that I might lose you and that there were some things that I should have said a long time ago. So I'm going to say it now…" Julie took a deep breath, "I love you Gill." Under normal circumstances Gill would have laughed and told Julie off for being so soppy but in the context of the day and the deadly serious look on her best friend's face she decided otherwise.

"I love you too Slap, you should know that by now." It was said kindly; as though it was a given, even if they rarely said the words to each other aloud.

"No, that's not what I mean. I'm _in love_ with you; I want to be _with_ you." Gill fell silent, the sound of her own breathing was harsh in her ears and her heart almost thudded out of her chest. Julie squirmed under the scrutiny of her gaze and turned away. Her heart felt heavy and tears threatened at the corners of her eyes. She'd fooled herself into thinking that maybe, just maybe, she hadn't been alone in feeling something much deeper than the friendship they currently had; and now she might have compromised even that. "I…I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking…" Gill shook her head and held her free hand up in front of Julie's face to stop her from saying anything else.

"Just give me a moment…" It was agonising, not knowing what was going through Gill's head in those few moments of silence, punctuated only by the steady thumping of music beneath them and the white noise of revellers enjoying themselves with no regard to the life changing conversation happening only a few feet away. Gill had slipped her hand free from Julie's grasp and it joined the other on her knees in front of her. She'd been staring at them as she carefully considered the older woman's confession. Suddenly, after what felt like a lifetime, Gill looked up and looked Julie right in the eye as she took a deep breath to speak. "There's always been _something_, a connection I suppose, but I hadn't realised the depth of it until fairly recently. I pushed it to the back of my mind because I didn't want to deal with it, feeling something meaningful for someone again was against all my instincts because I was…_I am_…scared of getting hurt again. Then today, when I was alone with Helen and just my thoughts, it all came crashing down on me in a rush. I made a promise to myself that I would tell you but chickened out as soon as I was back on terra firma. I thought it would be easier to dismiss it entirely but as soon as I saw you downstairs I knew that I couldn't. Julie, I think I'm in love with you too." Julie released the breath she had been holding in a 'whoosh' and looked squarely at her best friend.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes…no…I don't know. I'm both scared and excited; I want to jump in with both feet and throw caution to the wind but at the same time I don't want to risk what we already have. I just…I need to take back some happiness in my life and the way I feel about you, I think…perhaps…we can do that together." Gill tentatively reached out and brushed Julie's grown out fringe from her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. She stroked Julie's cheek with her thumb and inched forward. Gill's lips brushed her best friend's lightly once and then she paused to try to get her breathing under control. The moment was full of electricity; anticipation charged through their bodies and desire surged in their veins. Gill couldn't hold back any longer and launched herself into a bruising kiss. She'd never indulged in narcotics but she assumed this was the closest she'd ever come. Kissing Julie could quite easily become addictive if this was how it made her feel. Julie whimpered and any resolve she had left disappeared entirely. She threaded her hand through Gill's hair at the base of her neck in order to get some sort of control. Julie kissed Gill deeply and the smaller woman relinquished easily; she had never been so happy to let herself drown in a tidal wave of sensation. Eventually they had to pause in order to breathe and they rested their foreheads against each other to maintain the closeness between them. "I didn't expect to feel quite so…" Gill sighed, breathy and quiet.

"Aroused?" Julie half joked, understanding that the kiss had been overwhelming for them both.

"Umm hmm." The younger woman was unable to think of anything more coherent to say, so instead went in to kiss Julie once again. Julie stopped her with a gentle finger to her lips.

"Gill, as much as I would like to, and I really _really_ want to, I think we should slow down a bit. You've been through so much today and you need to take some time to recover."

"I know what I want." Defiant, confident Gill was as sexy as hell and Julie almost felt herself caving in.

"I'm not doubting that but I promise you I'm not going anywhere and we have plenty of time to explore this. I don't want to take advantage of you, not after everything today." It was sensible and absolutely the right thing to do and despite their bodies and emotions telling them otherwise they both agreed.

"I always knew you were chivalrous underneath that bravado." Gill gave Julie a crooked, playful smile.

"Just don't go advertising it; you might be in for some competition!" They both laughed at Julie's quip and they bumped shoulders before leaning in for sideways cuddle.

"I do have one request though."

"And that is?"

"Stay with me, tonight."

"Gill…" Julie admonished, it was hardly 'slowing down.'

"Just to sleep, we can talk everything through properly in the morning. I..I don't want to be alone tonight." The last part of Gill's sentence swayed Julie's rationale and she went with her heart instead of her head. She nodded and Gill wrapped her arms around her, burying her face in the crook of her neck. "I love you." Julie felt like her heart was going to burst and she squeezed the younger woman tighter to her.

"I love you too, you have no idea how much."

* * *

Gill awoke and rolled onto her side to face Julie sleeping peacefully next to her. Her best friend had always looked more at ease in her sleep, softer for having left Detective Superintendent Dodson back at the office and replaced by the fallible, vulnerable and emotive woman she was underneath. Gill understood it all too well and often found it difficult to reconcile the two halves of her own self. But as their friendship grew, they had connected in a way that allowed them to open up to each other and that experience had brought them closer than Gill had ever thought possible.

"I do like a happy ending." Cupid sat on the bedside cabinet closest to Julie and smiled wistfully at the scene before her.

"So do I." Gill replied in a whisper, much to the creature's surprise. She appeared to ignore it as she gazed at her bed mate and delicately stroked the side of her face.

"You can hear me?" Gill glanced at Cupid from the corner of her eye and grinned.

"And see you." Cupid shook its head, it wasn't used to so much attention in such a short space of time.

"Twice in one night, that just isn't possible."

"Some people might be inclined to say that _you're_ not possible." Gill said it in that knowing way she had when she'd clued in on something pertaining to a case.

"You know who I am?"

"If what I'm thinking is correct, yes. My mother told me about you once, described you quite accurately it turns out." Gill continued to focus her attention on Julie and toyed with her hair, gently brushing invisible strands from her face. She kept her voice low as she conversed with Cupid. "She said that you'd appeared to her the night she met my dad. As a little girl I held onto the hope it would happen for me but when I met my ex-husband it didn't, so I just thought that it was a nice story that she'd made up." Julie stirred lightly in her sleep and Gill placated her with a kiss to her brow. It wasn't going to be long before the older woman would awaken and a discussion about their future would need to take place. "I just wanted to say thank you. My parents were so in love and happy, I had a wonderful childhood."

"I only follow instructions; if I was there then it was always meant to be. And now you have a second chance yourself. You've both waited a long time for this, cherish and nurture it and make the most of every moment." Cupid's words of wisdom sounded kind.

"I will, we both will." Julie's eyes flickered open and upon seeing the smiling face of her _extra special_ best friend, she smiled back in response.

"Hi." Julie's voice was soft and shy, unsure of how this shift in their relationship was going to play out in the cold light of day.

"Hello." Gill leaned in and captured Julie's lips in a gentle kiss. Julie met her halfway and the relief flooded through them both. They kissed again, more certain and definite this time. The second kiss rolled into a third more passionate one and the fourth took a while to culminate. Neither of them noticed Cupid as it left, sprinkling a rainbow of glittering magic in its wake.


End file.
